In the News

March 24, 2015 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s almost-a-surprise victory last week seems at least partly due to how he played the digital game, with an aggressive online outreach effort, active social media accounts and short but attention-grabbing videos. That digital strategy was mostly engineered by an American consulting firm, Harris Media, which was recently hired by Sen. Rand…

March 17, 2015 | On the second day of Sunshine Week, we highlight something that we’ve been vocal about for a long time: the fact that senators aren’t required to file their campaign finance disclosure reports electronically. This could be fixed quickly if Congress passed S. 366, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. This bill has been introduced in…

March 12, 2015 | While campaign workers (and increasingly television viewers) breathe a sigh of relief the morning after an election, for lobbyists it’s time to get back to work to bolster relationships with incumbents or begin them with new members. That’s often done in the form of contributions (surprise!). According to an OpenSecrets.org analysis, 948 lobbyists wrote more…

February 19, 2015 | A federal investigation into events surrounding the Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign in Iowa is ongoing and “making progress,” the Des Moines Register reported today. During a brief hearing that included federal prosecutors and the attorney representing a former Iowa state senator who has pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance rules in connection with the campaign, prosecutors said they are…

February 11, 2015 | We have no idea how many jobs are generated by federal elections, but we do know that some individuals and firms make a very good living from modern political campaigns. In fact, we can tell you just how well certain media companies, consultants, pollsters and others in the “election-industrial complex” are doing. In the 2014…

February 5, 2015 | In the ongoing scrum that is the GOP presidential money primary, every wealthy donor locked up adds both to a potential candidate’s perceived viability and his credibility with more donors. FEC filings from late last month have already yielded positive signals for several of the senators who may be angling for the nomination, but the…

January 30, 2015 | If writing checks to politicians and political causes is any indicator of how well a team will do in a Super Bowl, the Patriots should start dusting off this year’s Vince Lombardi trophy — but it’s not going to be a blowout. Really, it would come down to a battle between the owners, and it would be close…

January 29, 2015 | Senators who voted to push through development of the Keystone XL pipeline today have received, on average, $570,034 in contributions to their campaigns and leadership PACs from the oil and gas industry over the course of their careers. The 35 senators who voted against bill have received, on average, just $78,641 from the industry. The Obama…

January 20, 2015 | The economy is growing steadily, unemployment is down, the stock market is soaring, gas prices are diving. Good luck getting a rise out of someone by mentioning the deficit at a Washington dinner party, something that would have been unimaginable in the not-so-distant past. There’s plenty of good news for President Obama to dwell on…

January 14, 2015 | Wall Street did its part to make 2014 the most expensive midterm election ever, outpacing its 2010 total and once again putting the bulk of its financial muscle behind GOP candidates and groups. Donors from the securities and investment industry, otherwise known as Wall Street, contributed a total of $184 million to candidates, parties and outside…

January 6, 2015 | Seven years after President George W. Bush signed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) into law and then-Sen. Barack Obama, (D-Ill.) declared it to be “the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate,” a joint analysis by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics suggests the effort may have misfired. A key…

December 16, 2014 | Following mixed results in the 2014 midterms, Club for Growth last week announced a change of leadership. As of Jan. 1, former Indiana Rep. David McIntosh (R) will replace current Club president Chris Chocola, whose tenure saw the group go through ups and downs. Club chairman Jackson T. Stephens Jr. praised the outgoing president in…

December 12, 2014 | In the wake of the passage of the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill last night, it’s no easy thing sorting out the winners and the losers. The wide variety of riders and add-ons means a slew of interest groups can claim victory, even if it’s hard to pin down exactly who should claim credit for stuffing the…

December 10, 2014 | The epitaph for the national political parties may have been written too soon. Yes, the 2002 McCain-Feingold law took away their unlimited soft money donations. And true, Citizens United and other court decisions left them feeling like 98-pound-weaklings as mighty super PACs and other outside groups sprung up around them and dominated the airwaves. But…

December 3, 2014 | This article was cross-posted at TIME.com. The defeat of the Keystone XL pipeline bill in the Senate last month may have been viewed as a blow to Sen. Mary Landrieu‘s re-election bid, but her battle to get the bill passed was warmly received by members of the oil and gas industry, including Keystone’s parent company.…

November 20, 2014 | As Goldman Sachs prepares for more unwelcome publicity tomorrow at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, these things are certain: The financial giant’s many lobbyists will be working in overdrive, and the company’s million-dollar PAC will be considering writing checks to a host of lawmakers — some of them on the House or Senate Banking Committees.…

November 18, 2014 | The Ron Paul presidential campaign of 2012 is not over. In fact, the legal entity that controlled the campaign had $576,000 in the bank on Sept. 30 — a substantial sum for a White House bid that effectively ended two-and-a-half years ago. Leftover campaign cash can be used for a variety of purposes, but since August,…

November 18, 2014 | With Monday’s announcement that Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) will lead the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, all four House and Senate party committee chairmanships are now filled heading into the 2016 election cycle. While a mix of skills lead to success in these slots, contributions from leadership PACs are often thought to enhance candidates’ chances…

November 10, 2014 | The 2014 midterms were the darkest election yet for congressional races. Reported spending by “dark money” groups — 501(c) organizations that don’t disclose their donors to the public — jumped from $135 million in 2010 to nearly $170 million in 2014, despite only a modest increase in the overall cost of the election. Dark money didn’t…

November 5, 2014 | Republicans made the most of their fundraising advantage and routed Democrats in Tuesday’s midterms, but they seized the majority in the Senate and built their lead in the House even as fewer donors participated in the process and more of the dollars came from secret sources. Democrats weren’t swamped when it came to the money…

November 3, 2014 | It’s official. Today, spending by “dark money” organizations on congressional elections surpassed that of all previous cycles. At $169.2 million so far, money spent by these groups that don’t disclose their donors handily outpaces 2010’s previous record for a midterm election, where dark money spending topped out at $135 million. It even, albeit barely, tops the $168.6 million spent…

November 3, 2014 | Last week the Wesleyan Media Project, along with OpenSecrets.org, released its most recent summary of campaign ad spending in the closest 2014 races. By combining data on specific ad buys with our information about the types of spenders (including how much donor disclosure is available) we were able to clarify the role of outside groups…

November 2, 2014 | These last days of the campaign are when person-to-person contact with voters — the famous “ground game” — is meant to help push candidates over the top. The ground game is the last refuge of every campaign trailing in the polls, since a stellar get-out-the-vote operation can close a deficit in a hurry. This cycle, Democrats, in…

October 31, 2014 | This story is cross-posted at TIME.com With just a few days remaining in the first quarter of 2014, Mary Landrieu did something generous: The embattled Democratic senator from Louisiana, herself in the midst of an exceedingly tough re-election race, used her leadership PAC to give $5,000 to the campaign of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who…

October 17, 2014 | Big-dollar donations to outside spending groups in the third quarter appeared to be falling like manna from heaven. Take, for instance, the largess of Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans. He doled out at least $3.5 million to seven different super PACs in the three-month period ending Sept. 30, pumping up their reserves weeks…

October 15, 2014 | Count Lorillard executives among those who want to see Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) prevail in his midterm race. In August and September, Lorillard — through its PAC and top executives — made more than $45,000 in donations to McConnell’s joint fundraising committee, McConnell Victory Kentucky. That was just after Lorillard announced it would…

October 9, 2014 | Spending by groups that don’t disclose their donors in the 2014 midterm elections has crested $100 million, a figure that is well ahead of what was spent on congressional races at this point in any other cycle. And the most is yet to come. How much more? Probably at least another $100 million, if past…

October 3, 2014 | They may be called super PACs, but they can’t be everywhere at once. It’s become fashionable for these committees, which can spend unlimited amounts on ads backing or attacking candidates anywhere in the country, to tout their allegiance to a state. But as often as not, an OpenSecrets Blog analysis found, they run mainly on out-of-state money. We tallied up…

September 11, 2014 | Who’s the real Washington insider? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) or his Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes? Both candidates and their surrogates have lobbed the scurrilous insult this week as both have made time in their busy schedules to raise money from the monied set in D.C. The fact is, both candidates rely heavily…

September 5, 2014 | Lower temperatures, pumpkin spice lattes, and midterm congressional elections ― love or loathe these aspects of autumn, they’re right around the corner. The 2014 elections already look like they’ll shatter some spending records, and races are tight in multiple states. What might tip the scales either way? If you’re a regular user of OpenSecrets.org, you…

September 4, 2014 | Last week’s guilty plea by former Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson wasn’t the end of the federal investigation into the 2012 Iowa caucus payola scandal — not by a longshot. OpenSecrets Blog has learned that FBI agents have been interviewing a slew of witnesses connected to Ron Paul’s presidential campaign and grand jury subpoenas have been…

August 27, 2014 | A former Iowa state senator has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he accepted money from the Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign to switch his endorsement from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who was also running for the GOP White House nomination. Kent Sorenson, of Milo, Iowa, has been at the center of accusations that he was…

August 21, 2014 | Seven-figure political contributions are a regular feature of politics this decade, but only outside groups like super PACs are allowed to accept such large checks. Contributions to candidates and party committees are still subject to strict limits, which makes gathering the huge sums that it takes to run competitive campaigns difficult and extremely time-consuming. For…

August 18, 2014 | In Alaska’s Senate primary race, the Republican establishment has downplayed threats to its top candidate, Dan Sullivan. Yet his challengers, Joe Miller and Mead Treadwell, have triggered a frenzy of last-minute spending to ensure Sullivan wins the Tuesday election. As of late July, Sullivan had about $4.1 million in the bank — over three times more…

August 4, 2014 | As the fighting in Gaza escalated over the past few weeks, Congress said and did little, except consider a bi-partisan bill just before recess to replenish aid to Israel’s missile defense program. At a time when nearly everything is grounds for noisy partisan rancor, this unusual silence and cooperation indicates general accord on Capitol Hill…

August 1, 2014 | In New York’s 19th district, a race between a former Army colonel, Republican Rep. Chris Gibson, and Sean Eldridge, the husband of Facebook co-founder and The New Republic publisher Chris Hughes, would seem to be a study in contrasts. And yet their fundraising style isn’t so different: both have a donor base that is spread far and…

July 11, 2014 | We’ve written before about “single-candidate super PACs,” outside spending groups that exist solely to support or oppose a sole office-seeker. Last cycle, virtually every presidential candidate had at least one dedicated super PAC. Some are managed by the candidate’s close associates, most notably Restore Our Future, last cycle’s top-spending super PAC and one of Mitt…

June 24, 2014 | In the last weeks before today’s runoff election in Mississippi pitting Sen. Thad Cochran (R ) against tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel, eleventh-hour campaign contributions have poured in at a furious rate, matched only by the efforts of outside groups joining the fray. Six-term incumbent Cochran saw more of the same institutional and big business support he has relied on…

June 16, 2014 | Sen. Thad Cochran‘s (R-Miss.) chances of fending off tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel remain uncertain a week before the runoff election next Tuesday — but if he loses, it won’t be for lack of trying by establishment Republicans. Cochran has benefited from the strong support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose fundraiser last week on…

June 4, 2014 | On Tuesday, the Senate leaders from each party spoke to their colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, sharing their contrasting views on the impact of recent Supreme Court decisions that have loosened campaign finance restrictions. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have long clashed in this area — and they also know which side their bread…

May 30, 2014 | Mississippi can lay claim to some of the GOP’s ugliest infighting leading up to Tuesday’s Senate primary vote, marked by a proxy war between the conservative establishment and tea party affiliates that’s triggered a torrent of spending by outside groups. Poll results have been all over the map in recent weeks, indicating that state senator and…

May 16, 2014 | Matt Bevin was considered, at one time, a possibly serious threat to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). No more: When Republican voters go to the polls on Tuesday to select their nominee, McConnell will likely win by a wide margin. Still, the early threat froom Bevin has helped push fundraising in the race sky-high. The two GOP…

May 5, 2014 | Some cracks are showing in the conservative movement’s money machine in Nebraska. The GOP primary race for Nebraska’s open Senate seat has attracted nearly $2 million dollars in outside spending — a lot of scratch for a state with an inexpensive media market. Four outside spending groups dedicated solely to this race have emerged in the last…

April 9, 2014 | Shaun McCutcheon's lead attorney scoffs at the notion that super JFCs and PACs will proliferate with the overall contribution limits now in the dustbin. He has some experience, but he also has skeptics.

April 3, 2014 | The Supreme Court didn't go far enough for Mitch McConnell yesterday, rejecting his argument that all limits on campaign contributions should be overturned. Turns out that about the same time, the FEC was issuing a warning to McConnell's campaign that 19 of his donors appear to have busted the caps.

March 12, 2014 | It's hard to sort out lobbyists' motivations for making campaign contributions. But the top recipients of their donations so far this cycle are a bit of a surprise: Top Republican leadership and at-risk Senate Democrats.

January 15, 2014 | In anticipation of the Supreme Court's ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation have teamed up to look at the deep-pocketed donors who could give even more if the justices strike down another limit on the amount of money in U.S. politics.

December 10, 2013 | Mitch McConnell has been paying yet another consultant linked to Rand Paul. But some of McConnell's hires from the Paul orbit are facing accusations that they broke the law before joining the minority leader's campaign.

November 26, 2013 | A consultant who figures prominently in accusations about paying a legislator for his support in the 2012 Iowa caucuses, as well as providing illegal campaign assistance to Iowa legislative candidates, is on Mitch McConnell's payroll, too.

November 25, 2013 | An ex-employee of National Right to Work and its Iowa affiliate claims that the groups provided free labor to conservative state legislative candidates as well as candidate mailers written, produced and mailed by the anti-union groups -- allegations that, if true, could to violate state law. Beyond that, they told the IRS they engaged in no political activity, a statement that appears to be false.

November 7, 2013 | The amount of outside spending that's occurred in the 2014 election cycle is up dramatically from its level at the same point in the last cycle. Spending by dark money groups alone has increased even more. The real surprise is that liberal groups have dominated the scene so far.

September 26, 2013 | Sen. Ted Cruz's marathon speechifying seemed meant to please a certain subset of the Texan's supporters -- and it did. But what about his corporate contributors? They're big backers of the Republican establishment, which didn't much like his "filibuster."

August 7, 2013 | The Ron Paul presidential campaign may have been involved with negotiations to offer financial compensation to an Iowa state senator in exchange for his endorsement and support in the 2012 Iowa caucuses, according to emails obtained by OpenSecrets.org.

August 1, 2013 | Kentuckians for Strong Leadership may indeed be for strong leadership, but it doesn't appear to involve many Kentuckians. The latest fundraising disclosures show that its attacks on Mitch McConnell challenger Alison Grimes are being paid for almost entirely by people other than Kentuckians. By the same token, liberal groups going after McConnell don't seem to have any Bluegrass State money, either.

July 26, 2013 | The results in just a handful of Senate races in November 2014 -- four, maybe five -- will likely go a long way in determining which party will walk away from the midterm elections with a chamber majority. But challengers to the incumbents in these seats have more than name recognition issues to overcome. For now, according to second-quarter campaign committee filings, the incumbents hold a decisive fundraising advantage over their opponents.

July 12, 2013 | A pair of big-spending Democratic outside groups have launched a volley of attack ads in two states where hot Senate races may develop, and almost immediately an equally well-connected Republican group has fired back. Big names are directing the fight, but the names of donors bankrolling the exchange haven't been disclosed. In the case of one of the groups, they never will be.

July 9, 2013 | The Facebook corporate PAC has donated $110,000 to members of Congress so far this year, dutifully handing out large donations to congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle -- but lavishing particular attention on key figures in the fight for overhauling the immigration system.

July 2, 2013 | Fancy dinners with members of Congress are all but verboten for lobbyists these days. But they can still make an impression with campaign contributions. An OpenSecrets.org analysis has crunched the available numbers from the 2014 election cycle.

June 26, 2013 | In the wake of President Obama's climate change speech delivered Tuesday, some coal companies have already begun firing back. Power companies throughout the nation, along with a number of (mostly GOP) lawmakers supporting the coal industry's interests, criticized Obama's calls for increased regulations on carbon emissions. They're no strangers to attacking proposals coming from the president -- and they back up their statements with their political giving.

April 23, 2013 | With the Montana Democrat's departure, Capitol Hill loses a prodigious fundraiser, and one who wasn't embarrassed about his close ties to lobbyists: They provided him more than $1 million in contributions since 1990.

April 9, 2013 | Leadership PACs are an extension of a politician's brand. Set up as auxiliaries to traditional campaign committees, they're traditionally thought of as ways for politicians to earn goodwill by passing campaign cash on to other party members -- bestowing gifts on up-and-comers in exchange for loyalty down the road, or offering tribute to party higher-ups. But in an analysis of leadership PACs, OpenSecrets.org found that of the 25 leadership PACs that spent more than $1 million in the last election cycle, just five of them gave more than 50 percent of their money to other candidates.

March 22, 2013 | LPL Financial is an upstart financial services firm, built on a model of bringing Wall Street to the masses. Expanding at a blistering rate, it's begun running into problems with regulators. Good thing the company, which specializes in moving into rural areas, has just as quickly learned to operate within the urban confines of Washington, D.C.

February 14, 2013 | Iraq hires the Podesta Group, known for its ties to top Democrats, to boost its image on Capitol Hill, and American Airlines merger with US Airways will create a jumbo jet sized K Street game.

February 12, 2013 | The owner of a Wisconsin brewery who will sit with Michelle Obama at tonight's speech has also contributed to several Democratic causes, including the president's campaigns. Also, Gabby Giffords' super PAC will run its first ad before and after the State of the Union in select markets, and public employee unions rally on Capitol Hill today to protect federal workers in sequestration negotiations.

February 8, 2013 | Jesse Benton was an integral part of the Paul family's network of organizations, and a lightning rod for controversy before he left last fall to become Mitch McConnell's campaign manager. We can settle one matter about which critics have raised questions: How much he earned during his years with Paul's various committees.

January 28, 2013 | Sen. Tom Harkin's retirement has opened a door for the GOP in Iowa in 2014, while Mitch McConnell is shoring up his cash and his allies for his own re-election fight. Meanwhile, in the House, Cantor might be eyeing the speakership.

January 25, 2013 | Good government types, labor unions and others have lobbied to change filibuster rules. Also, some of the clients of Mary Jo White's law firm will be watching her actions at the SEC, if she's confirmed as chief, with more than passing interest.

December 27, 2012 | Flights were grounded by the thousands this week, leading one pilot to -- gasp! -- speak his mind about his higher-ups' decisionmaking. Maybe they were thinking about their fiscal cliff lobbying strategy instead.

December 13, 2012 | The Center for Responsive Politics looks at the donor demographics for the presidential race, a poll shows Ashley Judd is the favored Democrat to run for Senate in Kentucky and a lobbying firm picks up a big name.

December 3, 2012 | J.C. Watts, who's being mentioned as a possible RNC chair, has some strong ties to shadow money. A dialysis company that's accused of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid has invested heavily in Washington. And Bloomberg's pro-gun control super PAC likely had an impact.

November 21, 2012 | Virginia's Mark Warner decides to stay in the belly of the Senate beast, setting the stage for a VERY costly 2014 re-election bid. And the Terps move to the Big 10, along with Rutgers, but both schools already rank highly in terms of political contributions.

November 8, 2012 | Nine races are still officially undecided, though news outlets have begun calling some of them. Also, six-term incumbent Joe Baca may have fallen due to Mayor Bloomberg's super PAC. And could Ashley Judd beat Mitch McConnell?

July 13, 2012 | New versions of the DISCLOSE Act, this time tailored to gain more support, will soon be put to the test. Ralph Lauren takes fire for Chinese-made Olympic duds, but he contributes to home-grown politicians. And in the Massachusetts Senate race, record hauls for the candidates while outside groups mostly hold their fire.

July 12, 2012 | After being elected to the Senate just two years ago, Ayotte is in the running as a possible veep candidate. She's one of Sarah Palin's "mamma grizzlies," and has attracted lots of checks from other politicians' leadership PACs as well as from insurance and financial firms.

June 27, 2012 | The NRA hearts the GOP. The Office and Management and Budget says the FCC's new rule on disclosure of political ad buys doesn't violate the Paperwork Reduction Act. And Congress could provide relief on student loan rates this week.

November 17, 2011 | Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson filed complaints against the FEC and FCC Tuesday after he was excluded from Saturday's televised debate in South Carolina. Johnson's campaign alleges that CBS, which aired the debate, arbitrarily chose who would be in the debate and therefore advocated for their preferred candidates. That's for the courts to decide, but Viacom, which owns CBS, has directly contributed to several campaigns this year.

September 12, 2011 | Twenty-three corporations -- including AT&T, Exxon Mobil, Kraft, Coca-Cola and Koch Industries -- compose the ALEC's "private enterprise board." On the national level, these companies have been mustering a juggernaut of lobbyists to target congressional initiatives and donating extensively to a number of candidates.

August 8, 2011 | For months, candidates have campaigned in Iowa and poured thousands of dollars into efforts to win what has become one of the first tests of a Republican presidential campaign's popularity and organizational strength: The Ames Straw Poll.

August 1, 2011 | Both Reid and McConnell received most of their money from lawyers, health professionals, the real estate industry and the securities and investments industry between 2005 and 2010. And employees and political action committees associated with at least four companies contributed heavily to both men during this time period.

July 21, 2011 | Since the 1990 election cycle, media mogul Rupert Murdoch has contributed about $750,000 to federal candidates and political committees, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. Of that sum, 80 percent -- or $600,200 -- has benefited Republicans.

July 14, 2011 | Political science professor James A. Thurber, the founder and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, talks with OpenSecrets Blog about President Barack Obama's time in the White House, Obama's fund-raising machine, federal lobbying regulations and the proliferation of outside spending.

May 31, 2011 | Republican members of the House of Representatives drove the passage of an amendment Wednesday that opposes a proposed executive order with significant campaign finance implications. The executive order would require federal contractors to disclose political contributions from the two years leading up to a potential contract.

April 5, 2011 | "In politics money = access," a donation solicitation from the Physician Hospitals of America obtained by OpenSecrets Blog states as one of five reasons to financially support the organization's political action committee. "We need access to our politicians to educate them about who we are, what we provide, why we exist and how we benefit patients, physicians, communities and the healthcare industry."

March 18, 2011 | In late January, first-term Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) called on the Interior Department to allow a regulated wolf hunt in Montana. A few days later, he urged Taco Bell to use Montana beef in its restaurants. In between, Tester introduced S. 219, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. The measure would require senators and U.S. Senate candidates to file their campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission -- electronically.

March 2, 2011 | During 2009 and 2010, labor unions reported spending a combined $46.7 million on messaging designed to aide their preferred federal political candidates, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. This figure represents 16 percent of all such spending by non-party committees -- the lowest amount in years.

February 3, 2011 | Big-name political figures, including potential presidential candidates and party leaders, hauled in millions of dollars during the 2010 election cycle through their personal leadership PACs, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance reports recently filed with the Federal Election Commission. And Republicans dominated.

January 28, 2011 | A Center for Responsive Politics analysis finds that many of the commission's 10 members are prolific political donors with five of the 10 members donating to at least one of the two congressional leaders responsible their commission appointments

January 13, 2011 | Imagine asking a friend before the 2010 midterm elections, "What Senate candidates align with your beliefs?" and the response being "All of them." This is the case for many corporate political action committees

January 11, 2011 | In the debate about 2nd Amendment rights and gun control, one side -- gun supporters -- typically has the upper hand. Now, gun control advocates are hoping momentum will build for new laws after the assassination attempt against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on Saturday in Tucson.

November 1, 2010 | In her re-election bid, sophomore Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the chair of the House Tea Party Caucus, has spent more than any other House candidate running for office this year. As of Oct. 13, she had spent a staggering $8.7 million -- that's one-and-a-half times as much as she spent in 2008 and nearly two-and-a-half times as much as she spent in 2006.

October 31, 2010 | Behind the scenes, several current senators have been pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of fellow Democratic candidates. Could these big givers be positioning themselves to man the helm of the Senate Democratic caucus if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid falls to Republican challenger Sharron Angle?

October 28, 2010 | Last week Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) sent a letter, co-signed by 14 other Democratic senators, to the Federal Election Commission, requesting that they "repair and strengthen protections against foreign influence of American elections." But how deep does their desire to strengthen protections against foreign influence go?

October 7, 2010 | Thirteen Tea Party-backed Republicans want the U.S. Senate to experience a new brand of political brew after November 2. The question isn't whether they will or won't, but rather, how many of them will be in office? And donations from people making modest campaign contributions appear poised to play an integral role in propelling them into office.

October 5, 2010 | Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a Tea Party-loving conservative who wants to shake up and remold the institution he currently calls home, stands above other lawmakers in the frontier of creative uses of leadership PACs to aide fellow candidates.

October 1, 2010 | Forget Christmas, candidates know this is the season for giving. With just a month until the midterm elections, campaign cash collecting has shifted into high gear. Politico reported that members or candidates for the House and Senate will be having 400 fundraisers in a mere 14 days.

September 20, 2010 | Whether you call it a "527 committee," an "independent expenditure-only committee" or a "super PAC," the conservative outfit American Crossroads continued to demonstrate its fund-raising prowess in August.

August 27, 2010 | Want to know which sitting member of Congress has received the most money from the oil and gas industry? Which lawmaker has received the most from environmentalists? The alternative energy industry? Now you can find that information in one centralized location on OpenSecrets.org -- presented with sort-able and down-loadable options for your convenience.

August 9, 2010 | Angle, to date, hasn't raised a dime from any corporate PAC, but according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis, she has taken at least $8,900 from leaders of companies known to offer employee benefits to same-sex spouses or that operate in jurisdictions that recognize marriage between same-sex couples.

July 27, 2010 | Senate Republicans today blocked legislation calling for new disclosure rules for campaign advertisements. A unified Democratic caucus generated 57 "yes" votes -- three shy of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster and allow the legislation, known as the DISCLOSE Act, to advance to an up-or-down vote.

July 14, 2010 | One of the most powerful lobbying groups, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), announced on Tuesday that Business Roundtable President John Castellani will become the group's new leader. According to a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance records, Castellani, along with his wife, has given $65,400 to federal candidates, parties and committees since 1994, with 84 percent of that sum benefiting Republicans.

July 3, 2010 | In an attempt to jump-start the stalled immigration reform bill, President Barack Obama gave a major speech on immigration reform on Thursday. In his first major speech on immigration, Obama said that the U.S. immigration system "offends our most basic American values."

June 25, 2010 | At 5:39 a.m., after 20 straight hours of work, a House-Senate conference committee tasked to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the financial reform bill cleared congressional negotiations and is now headed back to the House and Senate for final votes.

June 24, 2010 | In a 219-206 vote on the House floor today, the House voted to pass H.R. 5175, known as the DISCLOSE Act, an acronym for Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections.

May 19, 2010 | Massive campaign war chests and establishment endorsements were not enough to be victorious in some of the country's most contested Senate primaries Tuesday night. One sitting Senator was defeated and another is heading to a run-off in three weeks, as candidates worked to distance themselves from Washington and position themselves as crusaders against special interests in charged anti-incumbent environments.

May 18, 2010 | A SUPER TUESDAY: It might only be a list of primaries interspersed with some special elections, but pundits are already calling it Super Tuesday, because of the political implications involved in some of today's contests.

April 29, 2010 | That's the message some House and Senate lawmakers sent to corporations, unions and trade associations today in unveiling legislation designed to increase transparency and accountability in the nation's campaign finance system.

April 26, 2010 | A bill to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system is due for a pivotal test vote in the Senate this evening, and all eyes will be on Senate Republicans, who promised to filibuster the legislation without certain changes.

April 20, 2010 | Government allegations that financial giant Goldman Sachs defrauded investors are creating a political storm, with some lawmakers hoping that the civil lawsuit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission is just the beginning.

April 13, 2010 | FOCUS RETURNS TO FINANCIAL REFORM: Delivering reform to the financial sector remains a crucial goal for the Obama administration as well as Senate Banking Committee Chairman, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who faces a renewed lobbying campaign by banks and financial institutions hoping to shape the eventual legislation to their liking.

April 8, 2010 | Recent filings with the Federal Election Commission show Murtha's leadership PAC is still active in donating cash to Democratic campaigns. Majority PAC also cut a notable $10,000 check to the campaign of Mark Critz, Murtha's former district director...

April 6, 2010 | Massey Energy, owner of a West Virginia coal mine where an explosion Monday killed at least 25 miners, has long involved itself in federal-level politics through campaign contributions and lobbying efforts, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

March 25, 2010 | CORPORATION ON THE ATTACK IN TEXAS: Deep in the heart of Texas, election observers have spotted what may be the first corporate-funded independent advertisement against a politician post-Citizens United.

February 8, 2010 | Since Washington, D.C., today is covered by nearly three feet of white stuff, and the city is effectively shut down, who better to highlight for this week's PolitiQuizz than Sen. Olympia Snowe?

January 27, 2010 | The past year proved to be a legislative whirlwind in Washington, with a new administration, and expanded Democratic majorities in Congress, tackling an ambitious legislative agenda against the backdrop of two wars and an economic meltdown. Twelve months later, the story is much the same.

January 21, 2010 | Corporations, trade associations, unions and nonprofit groups still aren't allowed to make direct contributions to federal politicians, but today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such groups may now spend unlimited amounts of money advocating for or against politicians. In doing do, the Supreme Court, led by Justice Anthony Kennedy, tossed out the distinction between individuals and corporations and their ilk when it comes to independent expenditures.

November 30, 2009 | Legislation aimed at regulating the securities and investment industry is as complex as the industry itself. But the trade groups representing these interests all seem to have at least one thing in common: they fear additional government regulation will damage their business, which especially concerns them given the ailing economy.

November 18, 2009 | Risk and uncertainty are as certain as death and taxes. So, to share the burden of risk and hedge against the full financial liability, companies have long offered consumers a variety of insurance products. Facing the prospect of new regulation, the insurance industry is on pace to break a record $154 million it spent on federal lobbying efforts last year. During the first nine months of this year, insurers spent $122 million and hired 953 lobbyists.

November 16, 2009 | Congress often acts as a type of bank for bankers themselves -- a place executives can direct their cash, perhaps hoping to collect interest in the form of a legislative favor. The interest rate on that premium appears to be low these days, however, as commercial banks could face a sweeping regulatory overhaul in the coming months.

November 4, 2009 | Even members of Congress – many among the country's richest people -- aren't impervious to the nation's economic recession. Current congressional members' median wealth uncharacteristically dropped nearly 5 percent in 2008 when compared to the prior year, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of federal personal financial disclosure reports indicates.

October 28, 2009 | The Federal Communications Commission's decision last week to begin developing open Internet regulation has left a few big-time political donors and lobbying forces in the telecom industry wondering whether their message got lost in transmission.

October 8, 2009 | Despite a lack of support from key leaders in his own political party, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) said resolutely this week that he has no plans to resign from Congress in the face of accusations that he's deeply embroiled in an ethics scandal. But it's not just his own party's support at risk -- campaign contributors, current and former staffers and even lobbyists may be re-considering their ties to a man who once served as the GOP's primary fund-raiser in the Senate.

October 8, 2009 | Two years ago under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, federal lobbyists and their employers were required to start disclosing their campaign contributions to lawmakers when they file what is called an LD-203 report. While there is no evidence that the new law has dissuaded lobbyists from making political donations, CRP found a 22 percent drop in the number of registered lobbyists who have made these contributions when comparing the first half of 2007 to the first half of 2009.

October 1, 2009 | A new collaborative investigation between the Sunlight Foundation and Center for Responsive Politics shows that since January 2007, more than 500 individual lobbyists donated roughly $2.8 million to 61 members of Congress who took money from at least 10 lobbyists and also received money from their clients' PACs or employees. Among the recipients were 11 senators who sit on the Senate Finance Committee.

October 1, 2009 | A month-long collaborative investigation by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has uncovered never-before-seen webs of campaign contributions from outside lobbyists and their clients, who are all important players in the healthcare reform, to key members of Congress.

September 18, 2009 | WATCHDOG NAMES MOST CORRUPT LAWMAKERS: The nonprofit ethics watchdog Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) has released their fifth annual report on members of Congress who they deem have engaged in unethical -- and sometimes illegal -- behavior. Fifteen lawmakers made this year's list, including Sens. Mitch McConnell, Roland Burris and John Ensign, and Reps. Jesse Jackson, Jr., John Murtha, Pete Visclosky and Don Young.

September 9, 2009 | If the Supreme Court is currently the dam blocking the flow of unlimited corporate funds used for political expenditures, today's re-hearing of the campaign finance case Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission indicated that the justices may be poised to put at least a few holes in that barricade.

September 8, 2009 | When President Barack Obama gives his much-anticipated speech about health care Wednesday night before a joint session of Congress, he won't likely address medical malpractice reform, much to the chagrin of the country's doctors. Given that health professionals are the second largest contributor this election cycle to candidates and party committees, they might feel slighted by the president's omission.

July 21, 2009 | Since Democrats swept into congressional power in the 2006 midterm elections, many industries -- including some that traditionally back Republicans -- have either begun to contribute to both parties equally or favor Democrats outright. The chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase, however, never had to make any shift. Jamie Dimon happens to be a long-time man of the left.

July 17, 2009 | House and Senate leaders last week named 10 members to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a bipartisan panel that Congress created in May to investigate the causes of last year's financial crisis. The selections include businessmen, ex-lawmakers, and academics who have together donated more than $1 million to federal candidates since 198

July 16, 2009 | Current congressional candidates who have turned in campaign finance reports for both the first and second quarters have raised a total of $145.8 million since the start of the year. This includes second quarter reports, due last night at midnight, for about 375 current lawmakers, who raised $65.6 million in the second quarter.

June 25, 2009 | Here's a cool tool that brings together data from various parts of OpenSecrets.org to show how much money each current lawmaker has raised from various health-related industries and the health sector overall since 1989 (including President Obama's haul).

June 24, 2009 | A former doctor, Rep. Tom Price's top contributors reads like a roster of America's medical groups. Out of the Georgia Republican's 20 all-time leading donors, only five aren't related to the medical field. Follow along as Capital Eye profiles some of the lawmakers who were health professionals in their past lives.

June 22, 2009 | Twice in the past week, statistician and blogger Nate Silver has used CRP data to analyze the relationship between political spending by the health care industry and key Senate players' stances in the debate over health care reform. While CRP cannot vouch for Silver's methodology, his research has yielded some interesting observations.

June 11, 2009 | For some lawmakers it is never too early to start greasing the money machine. Capital Eye takes a look at some of the new and re-elected senators who are already raising big bucks, even though they won't face another election for six years.

June 10, 2009 | Lawmakers trying to build up their war chests tap a variety of financial resources and walk the fine line of balancing their constituents' needs and their need for money to run a re-election campaign. Find out here who the Members of Congress that relied most on out-of-state donors and PAC giving during the first quarter of 2009 are.

February 19, 2009 | Swiss bank UBS AG agreed today to pay $780 million to settle claims by the U.S. Department of Treasury that it helped American customers evade paying taxes by hiding their Swiss bank accounts from U.S. tax authorities. But that's not the only help that UBS has provided Americans. In the 2008 election cycle, the foreign bank contributed $3.1 million to federal candidates, parties and PACs.

February 18, 2009 | As the story behind the embattled investment company Stanford Financial Group develops, we thought we'd take an even closer look at the seeds the company may have tried to plant in Washington via campaign contributions. When looking at ALL lawmakers to collect money from the company's PAC and employees (not just members of the current Congress), some additional, important names appear at the top of the recipient list.

February 17, 2009 | Money manager Robert Allen Stanford now has two things in common with embattled investment manager Bernard Madoff: both have come under scrutiny for allegedly defrauding their investors, and both have given significant funds to politicians. Between its PAC and its employees, Stanford Financial Group has given $2.4 million to federal candidates, parties and committees since 2000.

February 12, 2009 | The close ties between Rep. John Murtha and a Washington lobbying firm raided by the FBI have put the powerful Pennsylvania Democrat under greater scrutiny. The lobbyists at PMA Group have been Murtha's fifth most generous campaign donor over time, but he is just one of 284 members of the 111th Congress who have collected money from the firm, which specializes in securing federal earmarks for its clients. In total, PMA Group's employees and its political action committee have given current members of Congress $3.4 million since 1989.

October 9, 2008 | Not at all to the chagrin of oil and gas companies (and lawmakers who have received campaign donations from them), Wall Street is the new black for congressional candidates looking to link their opponents to an unpopular industry. As federal lawmakers have wrestled with an economic bailout plan worth $700 billion, candidates who have received contributions from the financial sector are on the defensive. Find out which candidates are filling their war chests with money from the finance sector in Capital Eye's final installment of Races to Watch.

September 30, 2008 | Registered lobbyists aren't just getting the attention of lawmakers while on the job. Like any other member of the public, they, too, are able to contribute up to the maximum amount per election to candidates of their choice. The Center for Responsive Politics has identified the congressional races with candidates who are receiving the most money from registered lobbyists.

September 29, 2008 | The oil and gas industry, under the spotlight this fall with energy at the forefront of political discourse, isn't hesitating to put some of its record profits into the hands of candidates who support its cause (or those it's seeking to convert). So far this election cycle, the oil and gas industry has given $12.3 million total to congressional candidates. The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has identified the candidates who have received the most money from oil and gas interests in this election cycle, and Capital Eye selected a few races to more deeply examine the impact of well-digger dollars on politics.

September 25, 2008 | Private interests and members of the public aren't the only ones betting their money on the congressional candidates they hope will win (or retain) congressional seats. Lawmakers in both parties have a vested interest in seeing their own candidates succeed this November, with Democrats wanting to strengthen their majority and Republicans hoping to minimize their losses. Here we look at some of the candidates getting the largest cash infusions from their own parties, indicating a close race.

September 23, 2008 | The last time Congress seriously debated how to regulate the financial industry, the result was legislation that allowed the nation's largest banks to get even larger and take risks that had been prohibited since the Great Depression. A look back at that debate, which was over the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act, reveals that campaign contributions may have influenced the votes of politicians who, a decade later, are now grappling with the implosion of the giant banks they helped to foster.

September 12, 2008 | Uncle Sam bailed out Freddie Mac and the company's twin sister, Fannie Mae, this week, and the next in line in the Wall Street family to get a helping hand might just be Lehman Brothers. Executives at the struggling investment bank are looking to sell the company with assistance from the government--and fast--as its stock plunges. Although the government isn't expected to completely bail out Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, the company has built a strong financial relationship with politicians over the years and coincidentally ranks fourth in the largest contributors in the race for the White House.

September 11, 2008 | When the federal government announced two months ago that it would be seizing mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, CRP looked at how much money members of Congress had collected since 1989 from the companies. On Sunday the government proceeded with the takeover and we've returned to our data to bring you the updates, this time providing a list of all 354 lawmakers who have gotten money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (in July we posted the top 25).

July 30, 2008 | The Center for Responsive Politics lists all of the current members of Congress who have gotten money from the candidate committee or leadership PAC of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury as part of a wide-ranging investigation of corruption in Alaska politics. Now some lawmakers are quickly giving the money away to distance themselves from the embattled senator.

July 30, 2008 | Soon there will be more light in Congress's lobby, as lobbyists file their first-ever reports detailing their campaign contributions to lawmakers. The reports are required by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007.

July 24, 2008 | Oregon venture capitalist Craig Berkman owes his investors $28 million in civil damages for misappropriating their money. The investors, however, haven't yet received his cash-but lawmakers, including presidential candidate John McCain, have. And if other politicians follow McCain's lead, they'll be dumping Berkman's tainted political contributions as soon as they can.

July 3, 2008 | Tomorrow is Independence Day, the time to commemorate the United States's successful revolt against Britain, establishing our own self-reliant government. Well, sort of. While our politicians are no longer answering to the redcoats, they've become awfully beholden to the greenbacks. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 36 current members of Congress have collected at least 20 percent of their contributions from a single industry, setting up a scheme of dependence and perhaps the expectation of a tit-for-tat.

July 2, 2008 | The Sunshine State is planning to buy out the U.S. Sugar Corp. for the hefty price of $1.75 billion, and give the 187,000 acres of land currently inhabited by sugar cane back to the alligators and pelicans of the Florida Everglades. But this isn't the first time that money has passed between government and the sugar industry.

May 14, 2008 | It's no secret that tobacco companies have spent millions of dollars lobbying the federal government over the years. And these efforts will likely pick up again this year as Congress tries to regulate the industry for the first time, giving the Food and Drug Administration the power to oversee tobacco products and banning most flavored cigarettes

May 8, 2008 | President Bush moved yesterday to bring the Federal Election Commission to a full quorum but did nothing to settle the underlying dispute that has left the agency disabled during a busy election cycle.

January 17, 2008 | The game of politics can stall important bills, kill controversial amendments and bring the legislative system to a halt. But what happens at the start of an election year when a partisan squabble essentially shuts down the federal agency charged with overseeing—and enforcing—campaign finance laws?

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